How Long Does Soap Last - An Answer

I had read a post where the person asked how long shaving soap lasts.  I was reminded of the tootsie roll commercial where the kid asks the owl how long their lollipop lasts.  The answer is that the world may never know.

So that made me think – how long does a soap really last?  If you have multiple soaps like me you put them through a rotation and it takes a long time before you see an impact.  

Back in October I bought the Stirling Pumpkin Spice soap.  I got an early version that, to me, didn’t really smell like pumpkin or spice but more like baked apple pie.  The scent did not diminish the performance but wasn’t what I expected.  

That made me think – Ok this would be a good one to use up – from beginning to end.  Day after day I used it and took photos every 20 days.  I bowl lathered and included a photo to show that I don’t super load the brush and when finished three passes there isn’t really any lather left.  I used a horse hair brush 90% of the time so this may impact the length of time somewhat.

It took 136 days to use one tub that contained 5.8 ounces of soap.  If you divide the days by the ounces it end up with 23 shaves per ounce for me with a Stirling style soap – that is semi-hard between a cream and a triple milled hard puck.  That means I will use around 15.8 ounces of soap a year or roughly 3 tubs.

I didn't take a photo of the new soap but we know what that looks like.

Day 20
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Day 40
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Day 60
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Day 80
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Day 100
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Day 120
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Day 136
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Typical Lather
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The good news is that I can finally try the soaps I got in November!

Interesting stuff.

I go through a puck of 60g Haslinger every 30-45 days of using it from start to finish, no rotating.

Interesting stuff.

I go through a puck of 60g Haslinger every 30-45 days of using it from start to finish, no rotating.

So roughly 19 days (at 40 days) per ounce at 2.11 oz or 60 grams. Obviously there is variation in brush, loading, and soap. But really not far off what I had.

Interesting stuff.  

I go through a puck of 60g Haslinger every 30-45 days of using it from start to finish, no rotating.

So roughly 19 days (at 40 days) per ounce at 2.11 oz or 60 grams.  Obviously there is variation in brush, loading, and soap.  But really not far off what I had.

I guess so. I don't think 90% of people know how long soaps actually last, as they rotate them. For me, I'd say I average between 1.5 - 2.0 g per shave, so we are very similar.

I've been using soaps from start to finish, 3017 style, for a few years now. It's the only way to go.

Great read, well done, I certainly don't have the patience to stick with the same soap for that long.

I've started committing myself to one soap at a time, with the odd day using a different soap just for a touch of variance. This lets me really get to know the true performance of a soap and if I really like it. The boys over at B&B call this 3017ing, and get pretty serious into it. Just for curiosity's sake, I've started an Exccel file that tracks grams/shave and cents/shave of each soap. It's actually a really interesting way to know exactly how long it takes for a soap to disappear. People have even gone through pucks like Tabac or MDC to see how many grams/shave they average out to. From what I've heard, Tabac really softens up with regular use and averages out to 1-1.5 grams per shave for the average shaver.

Cincinnatus thanks for making such a sacrifice for science! 136 consecutive days with a soap you didn't really care for - obviously a good soap but scent is part of the experience so I tip my hat to you. What was your first soap after you finished the experiment and how was it?
Marko

Excellent! Thanks!

I guarantee you that that soap wouldn't last even half as long if I did this experiment.

Cincinnatus  thanks for making such a sacrifice for science!  136 consecutive days with a soap you didn't really care for - obviously a good soap but scent is part of the experience so I tip my hat to you.  What was your first soap after you finished the experiment and how was it?
Marko

The soap I used this morning was Italian Barber Rosa di Bossolasco. Really great thick lather and incredible shave. Tomorrow is the DFS Signature soap.